Technical Field
The technical field relates generally to devices in networks and, more specifically, to generation of unique device identification information for devices in a network.
Background Discussion
Networking standards that employ a shared bus topology have a wide installed base in industrial applications. These networking standards include MODBUS, CAN, I2C and many radio based networks such as WLAN, ZigBee and Bluetooth. There are sundry reasons for the success of these networks, and some include ease of implementation, low cost of materials and robust performance in noisy, industrial settings.
A network generally uses a bus as known in the art to allow microcontrollers and devices to communicate with each other. A network may connect multiple nodes. A node in a network can range from a simple I/O device to an embedded computer with an interface, display, and sophisticated software. The node may also be a gateway allowing a standard computer to communicate over a USB or Ethernet port to the devices on a network.